


in the morning, then

by random_chick



Category: The Mummy Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/random_chick/pseuds/random_chick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For once, getting ragingly drunk might just work out in Jonathan's favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in the morning, then

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jassanja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jassanja/gifts).



Ardeth wasn’t at _all_ sure how he’d been elected the one to deal with an extremely drunk Jonathan, but there you had it. And to be perfectly fair, when Evy had made the pleading phone call, Jonathan had only been _mildly_ drunk.

They were lucky he had been in the city, someplace he rarely was -- his place, his duty was in the desert -- though at the moment, he was more than a little uncertain as to how lucky _he_ was. Given the fact that Jonathan was currently singing drunken love songs -- literally -- to a half-empty bottle of whiskey, the answer was, “not very.”

“You’re horribly off-key, by the way,” Ardeth informed the other man, pinching the bridge of his nose and mentally cursing Rick and Evy for just dumping their wayward family member at his hotel room and running like something was chasing them.

He was also rapidly discovering that the satchel Jonathan had brought with him contained nothing useful, just several more bottles of alcohol. Ardeth wasn’t a fan of drinking -- he had to keep his mind sharp and clear, after all -- but he passed no judgements on others’ habits.

Except for this case. In this case, he was more than happy to pass judgement -- and lots of it -- on Jonathan Carnahan for sitting on the floor and singing some completely obscure song that was so obscure, Ardeth had to reluctantly give Jonathan credit for even _knowing_ it in the first place.

“You’re too uptight,” Jonathan informed Ardeth, right on the end of a verse, the words coming out with a childlike singsong quality.

“And you’re the opposite,” Ardeth replied dryly. “In fact, right now you’re so loose that I think you’re about to come apart.”

Jonathan hiccuped. “Might have a point there,” he conceded. “But what’s so wrong with that? Nothing wrong with a little falling apart every now and then.”

“One might think that after everything you’ve been through, you’d have grown up a little,” Ardeth said, a little sharply, a little tiredly. He was, quite frankly, tired of Jonathan’s irresponsibility and utter flightiness. The man had potential, yes, but he so often ruined that potential by getting into the wrong situation or sleeping with the wrong woman or some horrible combination of both. Ardeth hadn’t been around for those situations, but on the times he met up with Rick and Evy, he’d heard the stories.

“Hard to grow up sometimes,” Jonathan replied, taking another swig from the bottle in his hand.

“Not so hard as you make it,” Ardeth said, reaching out to swipe the bottle from Jonathan’s hand and set it down hard on the nearby dresser.

“When you’re continually underestimated, it’s far easier to just live down to people’s expectations,” Jonathan said with a scowl, digging into his bag and pulling out another bottle. “Why bother growing up when nobody’s going to believe I can honestly do it?”

Jonathan was apparently bitter and surly when he got this drunk, Ardeth noted. Rick and Evy were going to _owe_ him for this.

“People have tried encouraging you,” Ardeth said shortly. “You do quite the job of almost living up to it and then falling down on the job.”

Something flashed across Jonathan’s face at that, something that Ardeth would’ve called genuine hurt if he didn’t know better.

“Evy always has been the responsible sibling,” Jonathan said after a long moment of being far too drunk for the conversation but trying to continue it anyway for reasons he was _almost_ drunk to admit to people besides himself.

“But you’re the older one,” Ardeth said. “It’s hardly fair to make her be the one to look out for you, not after everything she’s been through.”

“She’s so good at it, though,” Jonathan said, uncapping the bottle and taking a swig.

“She hasn’t had a choice,” Ardeth pointed out.

Jonathan just looked at Ardeth for a long minute. “It’s so utterly delightful being continually underestimated and put down by not only my family, but also someone I’m rather interested in.”

Ardeth just arched an eyebrow. “Now I know you’ve had a bit too much,” he said. “Or have you forgotten you quite enjoy the company of women?”

“I can enjoy the company of both,” Jonathan said archly. “It’s my decision, after all, even if it isn’t a popular one and it’s one Evy doesn’t entirely _get_. She at least supports me.”

“You’re drunk, Jonathan,” Ardeth said. “This is hardly the sort of think you should be saying while you’re drunk in someone’s hotel room.”

“So I should be saying it while sober in your hotel room?” Jonathan countered.

Ardeth almost smiled at that. “Well, at least then I would know you actually mean it and aren’t just entirely too inebriated for your own good.”

“Who says I don’t mean it?” Jonathan countered. “Just because I’m drunk doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m saying. Just means I’ll remember it entirely _too_ well in the morning when sobriety hits me like a truck.”

“All the more reason you shouldn’t say it,” Ardeth said. “You don’t want to say something you’ll regret.”

“Never said I’d regret it,” Jonathan said. “Just said I’ll remember it entirely too much. Because you don’t feel the same way and right now, while I don’t give a fig about the embarrassment of it all, I most certainly will in the morning.”

“So why say anything at all, then?”

“Because right now I _don’t_ care about the embarrassment of professing my affections only to find them not returned in the slightest,” Jonathan said. “And as it’s something I’ve wanted to own up to for rather a long time, I supposed now was as good as any.”

Ardeth studied Jonathan for a long moment, weighing his conversational options, and settled for picking the bottle up from the dresser and taking a thoughtful sip. “You know something, Jonathan?”

“What?” Jonathan’s tone was wary.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning.” Ardeth allowed a small smile to cross his lips. “It’s a conversation we should both remember with equal weight, after all.”

Jonathan just stared for a long moment. “In the morning, then,” he said, returning the smile with something almost approaching hope.

Ardeth simply nodded.

And Jonathan had the feeling that maybe the morning wouldn’t be so bad after all.


End file.
